


“I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

by 100SleeplessNights



Series: Tumblr Dialogue Prompts [12]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-02
Updated: 2019-05-02
Packaged: 2020-02-16 02:53:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18682672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/100SleeplessNights/pseuds/100SleeplessNights
Summary: Draco confesses his feelings for Harry.





	“I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending that they’re you.”

Like every Friday night since the end of their remedial year at Hogwarts, Harry, Draco and their assorted friends sat in a booth at the Stumbling Unicorn, the new bar on Diagon Alley they had chosen as the venue for their weekly Gryffindor-Slytherin-Relations Nights.

And just like every GSR Night before this one it took about an hour for Draco to get bored of talking and leave the table to join the throng of young witches and wizards on the dancefloor. Harry watched him leave, half wanting to join him until Ron waved his hand in front of his face.

“Your crush is getting pathetic, mate,” Ron said.

“I can’t remember a time it wasn’t pathetic,” Pansy scoffed and sipped on her colourful drink. “How often have we told you to just take the first step? You’re the brave Gryffindor poster boy, Potter. It’s time you act like it.”

Harry sighed and let his upper body slump down on the table. He was used to this kind of treatment from Ron but why was he friends with Pansy again? Right, he and Draco had somehow formed a tentative friendship halfway through their remedial year at Hogwarts and not long after that their respective friends had also realized they might have more in common than just their Hogwarts education. And now, a year down the line the eight of them were hanging out regularly, talking, bickering and, most annoying of all, teasing Harry about his crush on the one and only Draco Malfoy.

To Harry’s relief the teasing stopped after Pansy’s comment and his friends started another conversation that didn’t involve him and so gave him time to wallow in self-pity a bit. He knew Pansy was right, it wasn’t like him to shy away from something that could possibly hurt him, he had definitely never done that at Hogwarts, but it seemed one needed a different kind of bravery for jumping into a hole in a girls’ bathroom than one did for confessing their feelings to one of their best friends. And it just so happened that risking his life came a lot easier to Harry than risking his heart.

Harry was startled out of his thoughts when he spotted a head of white-blonde hair in his peripheral vision walking in their direction. Was Draco already done dancing, had found someone to spend the night with? But no, there wasn’t anyone following him – or maybe they had already left the bar and were waiting for Draco outside?

“Didn’t find anyone who meets your astronomical standards?” Harry teased Draco when he reached their booth.

“No,” Draco said looking more serious than amused, almost like he was steeling himself for some kind of confession. Then he swallowed and added, **“I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretending they’re you.”**

Harry didn’t know what to say. He felt like he had fallen asleep at the bar table and was now having a very vivid dream because there was no way this could be reality, right?

He realized it wasn’t a dream when a few seconds later Draco’s face fell, and he turned towards Pansy. “See, Pansy, I was right, there’s no way he returns my feelings. And now I’ve ruined our friendship just because I couldn’t get over my pathetic crush.”

Pansy gave Harry a glowering look that was impossible to misinterpret. Harry would have to fix this preferably before Draco left and locked himself in his flat for the next few weeks.

“Draco,” he said softly just loud enough for Draco to hear him over the noise of the bar. In a split-second Draco’s attention was on Harry again.

“What?” he snapped.

“I have feelings for you, too. I was just too shocked by your confession to properly react to it.”

Now Draco was the one who was speechless. “You… me…”

“Yes. You can ask any of our friends, they love to complain about how pathetic my pining is,” Harry said with a self-deprecating smile.

“It’s the worst,” Pansy jumped right in. “He’s even worse than you, following you with his eyes as soon as you make your way to the dancefloor every Friday and looking like a kicked puppy when you leave with another guy an hour later.”

“He once choked on his drink because you were wearing even tighter trousers than usual,” Ginny added.

“And back at Hogwarts he always paid more attention to you than his homework whenever he asked you to help him study,” Hermione threw in.

“I will never forget the time he complained to me because how dare your lips look that soft, there has to be some kind of Dark magic behind it,” Ron recounted.

Harry sighed. It seemed his crush had been going on for much longer than even he had realized.

“Then why did you never do anything about it?” Draco asked, still sounding hurt.

Harry swallowed around the lump in his throat and then said what he had realized only a few minutes earlier. “It seems I’m much better at risking my life than I am at risking my heart.”

“No shit,” Pansy muttered next to Harry. Draco didn’t seem to hear her. Instead his attention was entirely on Harry.

“Are you ready to risk your heart now?”

Harry was confused. “Why would I have to risk it?”

Draco gave him a look that told Harry it should be obvious but after a second of waiting for Harry to get it, he rolled his eyes and explained, “There will always be a risk, especially with us. We might hurt each other, even intentionally. We might not talk about things we really should talk about as evidenced by this whole situation.” Draco gestured at their surroundings. “This whole thing could go up in flames. Are you ready to take that risk?”

“Yes,” Harry said because to him all of those things didn’t sound nearly as scary as the possibility of Draco not returning his feelings had. And he was sure being with Draco would be worth every single hurdle they would have to climb.

Draco smiled at him. “Thank you. Can I kiss you now? I need to make sure turning everyone down tonight was worth it.”

Harry gave a startled laugh. “Yes, you can,” he said with a smile lingering on his face.

Draco leaned down to kiss Harry and as soon as their lips met Harry knew he had made the right decision.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments keep me motivated.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: [@asexual-lovegood](http://asexual-lovegood.tumblr.com/)


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